Asked by: Baroness Merron (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration has been given to making it simpler to switch off access to patient health records through the NHS app, particularly for vulnerable groups.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government wants people to be able to have access to their own records if they choose to do so. There is widespread international consensus about the benefits to patients and the effectiveness of the health system in providing digital on-demand access to personal health information.
For most, online record access is beneficial, but for a minority, having access could cause harm or distress. NHS England is taking an active approach to ensuring safe and secure patient record access, seeking to identify and provide additional protections to vulnerable people if they request access to their medical records online.
NHS England has engaged extensively with at-risk groups, professional bodies, patient groups, charities and safeguarding leads to support general practice and patients in preparing for this change safely and effectively. Communication packs have been provided to over 50 charities that support at-risk individuals. NHS Digital has published guidance in an online-only format for organisations, Supporting victims and survivors of domestic or sexual abuse, to support people when accessing their personal health information online.
Before viewing their record in the NHS App, users are advised what to do if they are being pressured to share their information. Patients can prevent access by disabling their National Health Service login with a simple online process or can ask their general practitioner (GP) for the details of specific consultations or treatment decisions to be redacted. When an individual first requests access, they cannot see information already recorded; they will only be able to access information recorded from that point onwards.
The expert safeguarding group has identified theoretical risks, which have fed into NHS England’s patient and GP communications packs and advice, messaging on the NHS App and NHS.uk and improvements made by GP IT system suppliers.
More than 23 million patients have viewed their records over nine million times, with no significant incidents relating to personal safety or security reported. Lower-level incidents, such as people finding out their diagnosis before being told by a clinician, have been reported, and some issues have been investigated and classed as low-risk and/or resolved.
NHS England continues to monitor this and would take action if an issue was identified or raised.
Asked by: Baroness Merron (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether any concerns about risk to personal safety and security have been identified by the expert safeguarding group reviewing the implementation of NHS App.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government wants people to be able to have access to their own records if they choose to do so. There is widespread international consensus about the benefits to patients and the effectiveness of the health system in providing digital on-demand access to personal health information.
For most, online record access is beneficial, but for a minority, having access could cause harm or distress. NHS England is taking an active approach to ensuring safe and secure patient record access, seeking to identify and provide additional protections to vulnerable people if they request access to their medical records online.
NHS England has engaged extensively with at-risk groups, professional bodies, patient groups, charities and safeguarding leads to support general practice and patients in preparing for this change safely and effectively. Communication packs have been provided to over 50 charities that support at-risk individuals. NHS Digital has published guidance in an online-only format for organisations, Supporting victims and survivors of domestic or sexual abuse, to support people when accessing their personal health information online.
Before viewing their record in the NHS App, users are advised what to do if they are being pressured to share their information. Patients can prevent access by disabling their National Health Service login with a simple online process or can ask their general practitioner (GP) for the details of specific consultations or treatment decisions to be redacted. When an individual first requests access, they cannot see information already recorded; they will only be able to access information recorded from that point onwards.
The expert safeguarding group has identified theoretical risks, which have fed into NHS England’s patient and GP communications packs and advice, messaging on the NHS App and NHS.uk and improvements made by GP IT system suppliers.
More than 23 million patients have viewed their records over nine million times, with no significant incidents relating to personal safety or security reported. Lower-level incidents, such as people finding out their diagnosis before being told by a clinician, have been reported, and some issues have been investigated and classed as low-risk and/or resolved.
NHS England continues to monitor this and would take action if an issue was identified or raised.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they intend to integrate advanced technologies and data analytics into the NHS to improve patient care and operational efficiency.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In February 2023, the Government published its first strategy for Medical Technology, outlining the priority to ensure patients have fast and safe access to the most innovative technology that deliver the best outcomes. We are implementing solutions to streamline the innovation adoption pathway: from providing clear signals to industry on the innovation we need, to reforming regulation, comparative assessment, and improved procurement. A Copy of the strategy is attached.
This will complement the investment in upgrading the analytical capability of the National Health Service, through the provision of the Federated Data Platform, which will allow trusts and integrated care boards to access software which allow them to draw together diverse operational data sets, to improve outcomes for patients. The federation aspect means that every trust and integrated care board will have access to their own version of the data platform, over which they will have complete control.
In addition, a single combined programme called ‘Data Capabilities’ is underway bringing together the several strategic strands of transformation. The programme is designed to achieve a strong data and technological architecture to enable the development of high quality and efficient data flows. Significantly it will also ensure that confidential patient data can be collected, processed, deployed, and disseminated securely. This will improve the quality, availability, and interoperability of data to support multiple use cases in health and social care.
The combined aims of the Data Capabilities programme are to improve the timeliness and quality of data collection, changing the way we collect data to reduce burden on the frontline; ensure the highest standards are applied to the safe handling of patient data; harmonise the data and technical architectures of the main data platforms used in NHS England so that data is being collected, curated and made available in the most secure and efficient way; expand the range, quality, and utility of data, including linked data assets; provide appropriate and timely access for users including providers, commissioners, policy makers, researchers, and patients to support the four use cases of data, namely Direct Care, population health and proactive care, planning oversight and service improvement, and research and innovation.
The role data professionals play in the health sector is vital and we fully recognise the need to ensure that this important part of the workforce receives the support it needs. The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) set out our ambition to ensure that the wider workforce has the skills it needs to deliver care in future.
NHS England also intends to publish a workforce plan that will encompass the information, digital, data and technology professions. This plan will supplement the actions in the LTWP and ensure that, collectively, we are taking the actions that will put the whole NHS workforce on a sustainable footing for the long term.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if her Department will ensure that NHS England publishes a public quarterly report on progress on the (a) development and (b) adoption of software products built within NHS England's Federated Data Platform framework.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Federated Data Platform (FDP) is an essential upgrade to NHS data systems, allowing Trusts to deliver improved services to patients, through more effective management of data. A series of pilots have demonstrated the benefits, with better use made of operating theatres, waiting lists shortened, and people discharged quicker from hospital.
The FDP is a Tier A Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) programme and therefore is required to report on a regular basis to the GMPP. The GMPP report is published annually. The NHS England website includes key information on the FDP Programme, including Frequently Asked Questions and case studies on the use of products, which are updated regularly and available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/digitaltechnology/digitising-connecting-and-transforming-health-and-care/
The FDP Programme will be publishing key progression data on roll out and benefits on the NHS England website once the platform is live.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many unique monthly visitors to the NHS app there were in each of the last 24 months.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
People log in to the NHS App, on average, over three times per month. The following table shows the total number of unique logins per month since December 2021:
Date | Unique Logins |
December 2021 | 16,610,432 |
January 2022 | 13,187,918 |
February 2022 | 10,332,559 |
March 2022 | 9,877,323 |
April 2022 | 9,548,551 |
May 2022 | 9,594,960 |
June 2022 | 8,739,815 |
July 2022 | 8,411,086 |
August 2022 | 7,430,167 |
September 2022 | 7,536,110 |
October 2022 | 7,795,626 |
November 2022 | 6,349,130 |
December 2022 | 5,701,081 |
January 2023 | 6,090,851 |
February 2022 | 5,683,030 |
March 2023 | 6,136,135 |
April 2023 | 6,137,161 |
May 2023 | 6,136,593 |
June 2023 | 5,768,438 |
July 2023 | 5,806,493 |
August 2023 | 6,012,745 |
September 2023 | 6,937,178 |
October 2023 | 7,843,134 |
November 2023 | 7,289,280 |
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients have selected their provider for elective care through the NHS app since May 2023.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Patients can select from a list of providers via the Manage Your Referral tool, which is accessible via web-based logins and the NHS App. The following table shows the number of bookings made by patients using Manage Your Referral since May 2023:
Month/Year | Number of bookings made by patients using Manage Your Referral |
May 2023 | 96,458 |
June 2023 | 100,812 |
July 2023 | 100,562 |
August 2023 | 96,193 |
September 2023 | 94,008 |
October 2023 | 98,960 |
November 2023 | 96,453 |
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what anonymisation process her Department plans to use for the federated data platform.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Federated Data Platform (FDP) and Associated Services contract has been awarded to a consortium led by Palantir Technologies which include Accenture, PWC, Carnall Farrar and NECS. This will see new software made available to trusts to manage their data, to deliver better outcomes to patients. The pilots identified benefits including shorter waiting lists, and quicker discharges from hospital.
The software will be more secure than anything currently used in the National Health Service thanks to new privacy enhancing technology (NHS-PET), which will provide robust protection and a standard approach to support safe data access and use. The NHS-PET has been procured from a different supplier, namely IQVIA. The first use of the new NHS-PET will be for the FDP.
The supplier of the FDP will only operate under the instruction of the NHS when processing data on the platform. The supplier will not control the data in the platform, nor will they permitted to access, use, or share it for their own purposes. The contract contains strict stipulations about confidentiality, and there is governance in place to monitor delivery and usage.
As part of the FDP Programme mobilisation, the team are working with the suppliers to design anonymisation processes in line with data minimisation arrangements and in accordance with the policies outlined above.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the cost to the public purse was of the (a) development and (b) maintenance of the NHS app in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS App was created in 2019. The following table shows the costs to develop, or transform, and run and maintain the NHS App in each financial year since 2019:
Financial year | 2019/20 (£ million) | 2020/21 (£ million) | 2021/22 (£ million) | 2022/23 (£ million) |
Transform | 10.6 | 7.8 | 6.4 | 10.9 |
Run/Maintain | 3.6 | 4.3 | 6.2 | 13.0 |
Total | 14.2 | 12.1 | 12.6 | 23.9 |
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for children to access diagnostic MRI services.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service’s Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care aims for 95% of patients needing a diagnostic test to receive it within six weeks by March 2025. £2.3 billion was awarded at the 2021 Spending Review to transform diagnostic services over the next three years. Most of this will help increase the number of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) up to 160 by March 2025, expanding and protecting elective planned diagnostic services. As of December 2023, there are 136 CDCs, which have delivered over five million additional diagnostic tests since July 2021.
The remainder of the funding will increase capacity for imaging, including diagnostic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) services, endoscopy as well as lung and mammography screening, and improve digital diagnostics.
Growth in the MRI asset base and increased use of MRI acceleration software is creating additional capacity for approximately 572,000 MRI examinations per annum within the system. This capacity will be used to support both paediatric and adult waiting lists.
As of September 2023, South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust delivered 75% of all MRI scans for both adults and children within the national standard of six weeks. Between April and November 2023, the average waiting time for routine outpatient MRI for children under 16 years old was approximately 12 weeks. Children who arrive within the emergency department at Sunderland Royal Hospital who require an urgent MRI scan receive this within three hours of arrival.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is for a diagnostic MRI scan for a child at Sunderland Royal Hospital.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service’s Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care aims for 95% of patients needing a diagnostic test to receive it within six weeks by March 2025. £2.3 billion was awarded at the 2021 Spending Review to transform diagnostic services over the next three years. Most of this will help increase the number of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) up to 160 by March 2025, expanding and protecting elective planned diagnostic services. As of December 2023, there are 136 CDCs, which have delivered over five million additional diagnostic tests since July 2021.
The remainder of the funding will increase capacity for imaging, including diagnostic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) services, endoscopy as well as lung and mammography screening, and improve digital diagnostics.
Growth in the MRI asset base and increased use of MRI acceleration software is creating additional capacity for approximately 572,000 MRI examinations per annum within the system. This capacity will be used to support both paediatric and adult waiting lists.
As of September 2023, South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust delivered 75% of all MRI scans for both adults and children within the national standard of six weeks. Between April and November 2023, the average waiting time for routine outpatient MRI for children under 16 years old was approximately 12 weeks. Children who arrive within the emergency department at Sunderland Royal Hospital who require an urgent MRI scan receive this within three hours of arrival.